Fitness Rx for Frigid Weather

I was jonesing to go to the pool yesterday and I even took a survey of some folks at work and asked if they had been to the pool and, if so, how was the water. They were, like, well I didn't get in the pool but people were swimming.

Alas, I didn't go swimming because it was just so freaking cold outside and if the water was going to be even a little chilly, it just wasn't going to work. I can't exchange cold for cold right now.

I felt the same today. Since I had a day off from work, I had absolutely no incentive to trek to the gym. I pulled out my workout DVDs and decided to do Walk Your Way Slim; only, I put in another DVD by mistake and I ended up doing Walking Pilates (Calorie Burning Workout).

I struggle with doing workouts at home because I feel like I'm not doing enough if I can't ramp up an incline or level but I need to remember that some movement is better than none at all. Plus, I needed a lighter workout today because my abs, arms and thighs are still tender from Tuesday's Boot Camp class. It's times like today when I tell myself to chill out and breathe. Relax, 'Drea. Breathe.

On The Calorie Lab website, I saw that there's a new show on TLC called One Big Happy Family. I went to check out a preview and was surprised when the mother, who weighs 380 pounds, thought she was going to work off a generous portion of pancakes and butter in addition to some funnel cake by frolicking at a water park. With the number one resolution being weight loss, I should not be surprised.

Tameka Coles should check out this feature in Fitness magazine, an eye opener regarding what it takes to work off indulgences. I'm assuming that this family will get educational support à la The Biggest Loser contestants.


Hopefully, I can catch One Big... at the gym where my cable subscription resides. ;)

This blip in TV Guide still inspires me.


Over at My Good Cents, I saw that you can get a Biggest Loser and Subway Workout Mix for free.

The Biggest Loser and SUBWAY® Workout Mix

Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis

American Boy, Estelle

Umbrella, Rihanna

Stronger, Kanye West

4 Minutes, Madonna

Love Story, Taylor Swift

No Surprise, Daughtry

Sugar, Flo Rida

Paparazzi, Lady GaGa

When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls

Second Chance, Shinedown

Damaged, Danity Kane

Nooowwwww, how will you navigate through Thanksgiving?

The big day, Thanksgiving, is one week away and I think about it. I do. If I let my mind go in that direction, I think about how I'll miss German chocolate cake, macaroni and cheese and candied yams. I was recently asked the above question by someone I was having a e-mail conversation with and here's my response:


I really approach Thanksgiving the way I approach any other day. However, I do make an exception for sweet potato pie and, even with SP pie, I've found a lower calorie recipe for sweet potato puree. So, I'm even going to put the kibosh on sweet potato pie soon.

I'll eat the turkey and green beans but I'll pass on the dressing, mac and cheese etc.

There's a feature in Fitness magazine called You ate it, negate it. When I see how long it takes to burn off calories for, say, key lime pie, it makes me lose my desire for that item.

I did 65 minutes on the AMT yesterday and it wasn't all fun and games but I gutted it out.

In general, when I think about how much time I've spent in the gym and on my way to the gym, I don't take food lightly anymore. And every book that I read says the same thing: diet and exercise -- you won't be successful unless you pair the two.

And, now, I don't even feel like I'm sacrificing a lot in the taste department if I eat reduced Swiss cheese as opposed to the non-reduced Swiss version.

As early as this week, I decided to clamp down even harder on casual consumption of food. Even my family has gotten on board, to a certain extent, asking me if I'll eat a certain item. Sometimes the answer is no and it's okay for both parties. I used to feel a bit guilty and a bit like I was missing out on something -- especially when the cook made something that I used to fawn over but, in the end, it's quality time that you're spending with that person and not what dish they made.

Several of us are supposed to go out-of-town and I'm already thinking ahead regarding packing lunch and snacks. I fear, though, that there won't be enough room for my almond butter, hummus, Kashi bars and Lesser Evil veggie sticks.

Month-End Review, October

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts (Upper Body), 2 x's

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Fat Burning Blast), 1 x

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 1 x

Army Crawls with Weights, 3 x's

Bicycling, 5 x's

Elliptical Trainer, 1 x

Mowing Lawn, 1 x

StairMaster, 6 x's

Stationary Bike, 1 x

Swimming, 9 x's

Treadmill (with bouts of jogging), 15 x's

Yard Work, 2 x's

Lesson Of The Month: If you haven't done upper body work in awhile, don't go swimming as planned the next day.

High Note Of The Month: I swam 29 laps today; I'm getting closer and closer to a mile.


After reading this poll in the October issue of Fitness magazine, I thought about my gym behavior.

I'm solid with wiping down the machines even though I've read that the solution that is used doesn't really sanitize the machines.

I had to think about the hogging machine question. I belong to a gym that is like the Wal-mart of gyms. The one I go to after work is large, has plenty of cardio equipment and there is not a time limit on how long you can occupy a machine. I tend to spend an hour or, at least, 30 minutes if I'm splitting my time on machines. So, I'll say no to the machine hogging.

I've had the urge to sing plenty of times when I'm really feeling my workout or trying to make it over a difficult hump. I restrain myself 95% of the time but I have sung quietly. At least, I hope it was quietly.

I try to be courteous of other people because I know that it annoys me when someone breaks out in an ultra-loud conversation on their cell phone at the gym -- especially after having listened to cell phone conversations at work and in public for the bulk of the day. It's almost as annoying as a gum popper on the next machine.

The Joys Of Bicycling?

I've been experiencing some post-bicycling knee achiness. At times, I don't appreciate the absence of pain or discomfort until something is amiss or shall I say that I don't fully appreciate the joy of fluidity until, to borrow a title from Chinua Achebe, things fall apart.

I saw an article about (arm, elbow, hand and knee etc.) pain in the July/August 2009 edition of Fitness Magazine.

I don't feel a grinding in my knee when I'm bicycling but the suggestion for bike-related knee pain helped out.

Now, I try to make sure that my foot is pointing forward which has, fortunately, cut down on the knee achiness. I would hate to give up bicycling especially since I so recently rediscovered it.

Quote of the Day

Seen while reading the May 2009 edition of Fitness magazine again:

Humans are basically built to be moving. The mechanisms that drive metabolism switch on when a person stands and they switch off as soon as she sits.

Dr. Levine, M.D., Ph.D, obesity expert at the Mayo Clinic and author of Move a Little, Lose a Lot

Comic Strip Relief

The sign of a true jones -- when you'll actually jump through hoops for the object of your affection.

Maybe Lola has the right idea about doing a little inspired cardio before decadence. Some folks also advise to just go for a walk etc. before indulging in something you may not need or really want.

Courtesy of the July/August Fitness magazine, here are some ice cream statistics:

1896

Year the first ice-cream cone was produced

23

Billions of dollars in annual ice cream and frozen dessert sales in the U.S.

273

Calories in one cup vanilla ice cream

380

Calories in one cup cookie-dough ice cream

45

Minutes you'd have to bike to burn off that cookie-dough ice cream

21

Quarts of ice cream the average person eats per year

301

Number of runners at last year's Walnut Beach Festival Ice Cream Run 5K in Milford, Connecticut (free cones for all!)

Duly Inspired

As I was psyching myself to sign up for the sprint triathlon, I taped two stories on the bookcase near my bed; one story is really about doggedness more than anything else.


David Goggins, who was featured in Runner's World magazine, is a Navy Seal who wanted to raise money for veterans' families. On Goggin's first outing to prepare for the Badwater Ultramarathon, he ran 100 miles in under 19 hours in a San Diego race.

Now, I don't normally go around saying what I would never do but I feel comfortable in saying that I will never participate in a 100 mile marathon. Half marathons are grueling enough but Goggins definitely served as motivation to get me through my event.

And the tiny triathletes?


Well, I was drawn to the athlete in the black swimming suit. There is something so joyous about the smile on her face and the smile reminded me of Nel in Sula when she says we were girls together. And, on a non-literary note, it just illustrates how exercise makes you feel good.

Once, I was rocking a white outfit and someone said that I looked like my mother who is a nurse. When I repeated the comment to my mother she said If you were looking like me, you were looking good.

If I look like this woman, one of the beauties in Essence magazine's 2009 Ageless Beauties feature, I'll be looking good at 70.




And I love what triathlete Laurel Wassner had to say in Fitness magazine:

My mind knows how to take over when my body wants to give in.

Yeah, girl, that is the spirit.

And one more:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Catch a Fire

My arms felt like they were on fire this morning. I was not in pain but I could feel heat radiating in my upper arms then slowly move down a bit. That's why I play The Amazing Race and put myself on a mandatory rest period with no back-to-back swimming allowed.

What's a girl to do whose arms have been taxed? She takes it to the StairMaster, Treadmill and ArcTrainer sans handles. I like the StairMaster for the challenge but I also like the vantage point from where I've witnessed amazing feats of athleticism. I saw one woman go from the StairMaster to the Bosu ball to jumping rope to weights then start all over again. Today, I saw a woman do push-ups, go into plank mode, flex one leg at a time then go back to the beginning.

On the way home, I noticed a new McDonald's billboard. The other Mickey D's b'boards have been advertising Filet-O-Fish. Apparently, the fish is so fresh that polar bears, penguins and seagulls hover nearby. This latest billboard is equally eye-catching with its signature red, yellow and white Mickey D's straw representing the *1* in $1.00.

It's funny how the fast food joints are pushing their value meals now. I remember going to Mickey D's prior to the value meal and I would be so annoyed that it would cost more to buy single items than to get a combo meal.

I was just browsing through an old Fitness magazine tidbit called Critical Reading which said that only 21% of people regularly check food labels. This article highlighted saturated fat, sodium, fiber and sugar and said to limit added sugar to 40 grams a day which is usually the amount found in one soda. To pay $1.00 for a large soda seems like a bargain but, in the end, it's really not much of a bargain at least not for me anyway.

60 Minutes

When I decided that I would push myself to exercise more, I committed to sixty minutes of exercise whether stepping into the gym or into the concrete jungle. I should have made an exception for the Adaptive Motion Trainer. My workout clothes were quite damp and my legs felt quite shaky once I got off the AMT today. Really, I was used up.

I watched week nine of The Biggest Loser. Tara continues to give her all in workouts and challenges. She's lost 94 pounds in nine weeks. Others have dropped impressive amounts of weight including the hot cousins from the island of Tonga who have each lost 89 pounds.

I wish that there was a Biggest Loser for folks in the second phase of weight loss because I would apply in a heartbeat.

Sugar Ray Leonard and Rocco DiSpirito were the celebrity guests. The blue team worked out with Leonard while DiSpirito oversaw a challenge that had the contestants cooking lower fat versions of fast food like burritos, fried chicken and pizza. DiSpirito suggested cooking with soy flour which I had never heard of until then.

I was watching Survivor earlier. I know, it's like the high fructose corn syrup of reality shows but I don't have cable and I must give proper respects to Taj, who is exquisitely thick; she has large, beautiful arms and was able to win a challenge for her team by holding sandbags (attached to a bar across her shoulders) totalling 100 pounds.

I was reading an August 2008 edition of Fitness magazine. Sigh, I'm a bit behind in my reading. Several Olympians were interviewed including runner Lolo Jones. I loved what she had to say:

...What do I like best about my body? My legs. I have about 20 scars from where I've hit the hurdles over the years -- and I've earned them all.

I'm going to look into Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food, a cookbook that Olympian Natalie Coughlin mentioned in that same issue of Fitness.